Non-Muslims married to Muslim MENA

[HannahP 119]

Muslim women can't marry non-Muslim men, can they?

[sereia 0]

Muslim women can't marry non-Muslim men, can they?

Islamically? No. But who's stopping them?

[Donna A 4]

we have no problem with the difference maybe because neither of us are really religious. anyway he has asked me once to convert and the answer was no...my forever is in heaven with jesus...ur just a temporary thing.

since we have no kids and are not planning on having them i guess there will be no problems there either.

[Rocketta 0]

Muslim women can't marry non-Muslim men, can they?

Islamically? No. But who's stopping them?

hmmm, the Sharia court maybe??

[Rocketta 0]

we have no problem with the difference maybe because neither of us are really religious. anyway he has asked me once to convert and the answer was no...my forever is in heaven with jesus...ur just a temporary thing.

since we have no kids and are not planning on having them i guess there will be no problems there either.

Me and my husband are not overly religious either but we do want to have one or two kids. This will cause some issues I'm sure. It's not that I'm opposed to my kids being raised muslim but it would have to be an extremely open-minded progressive muslim sect. I would prefer if they were exposed to both and let them choose as adults.

[S and S 12]

I knew two muslim women that married Christian men. One did against her families wishes so she could not go back home from the US and the other had permission from her family. I think it is a case by case basis though Islam expressly forbids it. Sharia law isn't in the United States so there is nothing in this country to stop them.

[Aymerlu 3]

I am a Christian woman married to a Muslim man. We've been together since 2004 and religion has never been an issue. I respect his religion and he respects mine. We both love and honor God. There are times when one of us will have a question about the others religion, the question is answered and life goes on. I think if a person makes an issue about something, it will be an issue.

As a Christian married to a Muslim I get disgusted at all the non-muslim/anti-muslim posts, but anymore I just consider the source.

[aisha kandisha 0]

I knew two muslim women that married Christian men. One did against her families wishes so she could not go back home from the US and the other had permission from her family. I think it is a case by case basis though Islam expressly forbids it. Sharia law isn't in the United States so there is nothing in this country to stop them.

It absolutely is not expressively forbidden in the Qur'an or ahadith, but it is the consensus of the four schools of jurisprudence.

Most of the same jurists also find it reprehensible for Muslim men to marry non-Muslim women if living in a non-Muslim country, and some say it is actually forbidden.

Me and my husband are not overly religious either but we do want to have one or two kids. This will cause some issues I'm sure. It's not that I'm opposed to my kids being raised muslim but it would have to be an extremely open-minded progressive muslim sect. I would prefer if they were exposed to both and let them choose as adults.

Not sure what sect that would be, but individual Muslims tend to take individual approaches to faith. There are not monolithic views held universally by "sect" members.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Muslim women can't marry non-Muslim men, can they?

Islamically? No. But who's stopping them?

Muslim women can't marry non-Muslim men, can they?

Islamically? No. But who's stopping them?

hmmm, the Sharia court maybe??

I knew two muslim women that married Christian men. One did against her families wishes so she could not go back home from the US and the other had permission from her family. I think it is a case by case basis though Islam expressly forbids it. Sharia law isn't in the United States so there is nothing in this country to stop them.

Once again, let me correct this notion that ISLAM forbids Muslim women from marriage with non-Muslim men.

It does not.

There is nothing in the Quran nor the Sunnah of the Prophet that forbids this; an examination of the practice of Muslim communities during the Prophet's time and shortly after provides a myriad of proof that interfaith marriage for Muslimas was not considered haram, and could not be since Allah did not forbid it. Muhammad's own daughter was married to a non-Muslim for nearly two decades after her conversion, as were others in his inner circle.

More and more scholars are beginning to admit that rulings against it are outside of sharia. In forbidding it, sharia courts go by fiqh, not Allah, not sharia, and the practice comes from Arab jahilyya tradition, which has been folded into practice, not from Islam itself.

As a Muslim woman who was married for nearly 30 years to a Christian man, and a Ph.D in Islamic legal history, it pains me to see this erroneous notion offered as truth time and time again. Although the reality is, most Muslim dominated countries do not allow it, and it is blamed on Islam, it is a perversion of the faith, just as so many other things have been perverted in God's Name.

We should do our best to correct when we see wrong information, not to continue to spread untruths. Please, before anyone comes back with conveniently edited verses from internet websites shouting sin, I have heard it all, and have silenced even the high and mighty re this issue via the sharia. I only respond because I have already lived it, and for my sisters in the same situation, I must speak out. Allah calls on us to always do justice, and this, I try to do.

Most of the same jurists also find it reprehensible for Muslim men to marry non-Muslim women if living in a non-Muslim country, and some say it is actually forbidden.

Thank you for mentioning that. It is a self-serving fact that the same sites that go on and on about who Muslim women can't marry say not a word about how the same source of law, fiqh, also disallows Muslim men from marriage with non-Muslim women in the west. Also, the Quran does expressly forbid Muslims to marry unchaste non-Muslims unless they are fornicators, so, drawing on this premise, a lot of marriages between Muslim men and non-Muslim women must be due to fornication.

Edited April 16, 2008 by Virtual wife

[Jenn! 918]

VW, why is it that you are always the first to jump in to defend marriages of Muslim women to non-Muslim men, while at the same time you *seem* to have a problem with marriages of non-Muslim women to Muslim men?

Sorry if I've misinterpreted your position.

And please don't come back and say that I perceive you have a problem with it because it hits home and I'm secretly in turmoil over this issue.

Edited April 16, 2008 by Jenn!

[Sofiyya 1,687]

VW, why is it that you are always the first to jump in to defend marriages of Muslim women to non-Muslim men, while at the same time you *seem* to have a problem with marriages of non-Muslim women to Muslim men?

Sorry if I've misinterpreted your position.

I don't have a problem with the marriages of non-Muslim women to Muslim men, as long as they comport with Islam. IRL, I counsel couples in mixed faith marriages, and have done so for years. The Quran says what it says, fiqh says what it says, and Muslim history is what it is. Nothing I have said is contrary to what they say. In fact, fiqh and sharia have a problem with the women many Muslim men choose to marry, and that is demonstrable. Caliph Umer forced Muslim men to divorce non-Muslim women in non-Muslim countries based on his interpretation of the sharia and the needs of Muslim societies. Don't shoot me; I'm only the messenger.

Edited April 16, 2008 by Virtual wife

[Nasturtium 500]

I don't have a problem with the marriages of non-Muslim women to Muslim men, as long as they comport with Islam.

I think so everyone is on the same page, maybe if you could post a list or a source with a list of the requirements for interfaith marriage according to Islam, then more people would be able to see what standards you are talking about.

[aisha kandisha 0]

Also, the Quran does expressly forbid Muslims to marry unchaste non-Muslims unless they are fornicators, so, drawing on this premise, a lot of marriages between Muslim men and non-Muslim women must be due to fornication.

Would you mind providing the ayat?

[Jenn! 918]

VW, why is it that you are always the first to jump in to defend marriages of Muslim women to non-Muslim men, while at the same time you *seem* to have a problem with marriages of non-Muslim women to Muslim men?

Sorry if I've misinterpreted your position.

I don't have a problem with the marriages of non-Muslim women to Muslim men, as long as they comport with Islam. IRL, I counsel couples in mixed faith marriages, and have done so for years. The Quran says what it says, fiqh says what it says, and Muslim history is what it is. Nothing I have said is contrary to what they say. In fact, fiqh and sharia have a problem with the women many Muslim men choose to marry, and that is demonstrable. Caliph Umer forced Muslim men to divorce non-Muslim women in non-Muslim countries based on his interpretation of the sharia and the needs of Muslim societies. Don't shoot me; I'm only the messenger.

Oh I don't doubt that it's not permissible in the eyes of many scholars. As a non-Muslim woman though, I don't really find it relevant. In your counseling I imagine you discuss more often actual obstacles and issues in the marriage that are created by the interfaith aspect of it rather than assessing whether the marriage is permissible in the first place, right? Do you know of anyone who has gotten a divorce because they've changed their mind about whether their marriage is really allowed?

[jade2004 0]

Although I am not a muslim or non-muslim married to one, this is a question I am very interested in. I have seen many interesting answers in this forum. Just earlier i thought the pets/animals in the house issue was informative.

I am currently in Denmark on holiday/business with my wife and we just had this discussion tonight over dinner with friends talking about muslims in denmark, muslim immigrants, and danish culture.

I've read a lot about on going issues in Denmark regarding the Muslims there. A growing issue all over Western Europe. I'm curious what your dinner discussion with Danish people said (but I wouldn't post it here if I were you! lol)

I'm also a non-Muslim married to a Muslim. I wish he would come here and post his opinions about being married to ME versus what I have to say. Maybe someone will come along and post. What about you, VT? You were once married to a non-Muslim yourself, right?

This is a very good idea. My hubby is on visajourney so I will tell him to come read this post and give his input as I am Christian and he is Muslim.

As for my side and me not knowing anything about different cultures--it was alot of varied feelings and experiences for me. I remember one issue was when we were getting on the public transportation in Jordan and the men were literally pushing the women out of the way in order to get onto the bus first. I just stood there with my mouth open--like I couldn't believe they were doing this. I told Moe...if you do that in Alabama...you will have 10 strange men try to jump your A** for pushing a woman...lol...Like someone else said it is kinda reversed--there I rode in the backseat, here the woman would be offered the front seat.

I would like to see what the Muslim SO's think though.